The present invention relates generally to computing systems and more particularly to a system and a method for selecting cells in a table.
The Internet is a world-wide network of interlinked networks connected by specific protocols (e.g., the Internet Protocol (IP)). The Internet provides for file transfer, remote login, electronic mail, news and other services. The World Wide Web (the "Web") is a hypertext based system for finding and accessing Internet resources. Hypertext refers to specific content elements within a document that contain links to other documents. A user desiring to retrieve information from the Web invokes a browser, a client program that runs on a client computer (Windows, Mac or UNIX environment), allowing a user to display documents retrieved from the Web.
Information is organized on the Web in web sites. A web site is a collection of linked files resident on a server that may be accessed by a browser application. Typically, the web site contains a initial page (the "home page"), which is displayed when the browser first accesses the site. The web site may include one or more other pages which may be accessed by selecting links resident on the home page or other pages within the web site.
The process of constructing a web site includes identifying content for display, structuring the content, building the web site, and transferring the final product to a web server. The process of building the web site includes creating the hypertext mark-up language (HTML) associated with the links for a particular page of content.
Conventional web site construction mechanisms include tools for manipulating pages of content. Some tools allow a user to manipulate content within a page. Other tools allow a user to position a page in the web site. For example, a drag and drop tool may be used to select items located on a page and reposition the items to a second location within the page.
An example of a type of content element which may be located within a web site page is a table. A table includes a number of cells. The cells may be arranged in rows and columns. Individual cells may be joined with other cells to form joined cells. A joined cell defines a region of contiguous cells that share properties and may be manipulated as an single entity. Joined cells form rectangular regions in a two-dimensional table structure.
Cells may contain content, such as text, which is displayed within the cell as part of the table. Associated with each cell is a set of properties. Examples of properties include horizontal and vertical text alignment (justification) and cell height, width and background color.
It is often desirable to select a number of cells within a table in order to apply a common property to all the members of the grouping. Conventional selection tools make use of a pointing device for selecting a group of cells within a table. Conventional cell selection tools include a selection mechanism for identifying a starting cell (frame of reference), a positioning mechanism for indicating a second location within the table defining a boundary box containing one or more cells, and a release mechanism for selecting the cells which intersect the boundary box. Selection tools may also include options for defining the boundary box and how to select the cells contained within the boundary box. The decisions as to whether or not a cell is contained within a particular grouping becomes complicated when cells within the table are joined.